What Are Best Friends For Anyway?
by Decepticop 643
Summary: G1.Have you ever wondered why Thundercracker and Skywarp are such good friends? It all happened a long, long time ago... Please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

A/N- This is my first ever fanfic. Transformers don't belong to me except for Sunstar the seeker. Also for anyone who's curious, Sunstar is green with red and gold edging, bright yellow cockpit and a typical grey and white seeker face.

CHAPTER 1.

Long, long ago, there was a seeker of immeasurable power and wisdom. All the other seekers looked up to him for guidance and direction, one could say that he was almost like a god to them. His name was Sunstar, and this is where the story begins…

Thundercracker looked out over his homeland with sadness. The once glorious and beautiful city of Sheff-Latta also known as City Of The Seekers now lay in ruins along with so many others across Cybertron.

"Thundercracker." The blue seeker jumped at the sound of his name.

"Lord Sunstar! What are you doing here?" he spluttered.

"Take it easy TC. Don't move so fast or you might rupture something and I'll end up having to fix you." Sunstar commanded sternly, crossing his arms.

"Yes, sorry sir."

"Thundercracker I want you to come with me right away. I have a very special mission for you."

Thundercracker just stared blankly at the green seeker commander. "But…Why me?"

"Don't argue with me soldier, just do as you're told." Sunstar snapped with more aggression than he intended.

Thundercracker nodded wisely and without another word, transformed and took to the skies after his leader.

XXXXX

Sunstar transformed and touched down gracefully, the light cast by the evening sky bouncing off his green and gold armour, making him appear godlier than ever.

Thundercracker on the other hand, attempted to land but instead clipped his wing tip on the edge of a tower and ended up tumbling head over heels to the ground.

THUMP!

Sunstar just shook his head sadly at the blue pile of wings and thrusters at his feet and waited patiently for Thundercracker to get up. TC instantly lowered his gaze to the ground, (doing that in front of anyone is pretty embarrassing, but looking like a complete block-head in front of the greatest seeker that ever lived was purely humiliating!)

"I'll be right back." Sunstar quoted, starting forward then abruptly turned back. "And don't move unless you get ambushed by Autobots or the sky starts falling on you! In either case, just start screaming and I'll come to your aid."

"Ha, ha, very funny Sunstar." Came the sarcastic reply.

XXXXX

When Sunstar returned, Thundercracker immediately sensed something was not right about him. The normally proud and no-nonsense seeker commander was walking with a strange slouching posture and his features looked grim. Thundercracker also saw something very small and black tucked under the 'god' seeker's wing.

Suddenly, the black…_thing_ moved and…beeped?

Sunstar's expression was serious and sad at the same time.

"Um…I'm afraid there's been a change of plans my dear friend." Thundercracker noticed that Sunstar was trying to avoid looking him in the optics, which probably meant bad news for him.

"What's wrong Sunstar?" Thundercracker asked, feeling nervous and confused.

"Well, There's been an incident and now I need you to do me a big, **big** favour my friend…"

Thundercracker's spark was pulsing so hard; he thought it would burst through his cockpit anytime now. He really didn't like where Sunstar was going with this…

Suddenly, the green seeker looked up and said in his commanding tone, "I need you to look after this little fella for me."

Sunstar lifted his wing to expose a tiny black seeker, whom upon feeling his cover vanish started whimpering and beeping in panic.

Thundercracker just stood there dumbfounded, his wings drooping and his mouth hanging open so wide, that Sunstar was almost sure an Insecticon could fly in unnoticed.

"Thundercracker…Thundercracker?!" Sunstar's voice was tinted with fear; maybe this wasn't such a good idea!

Finally Thundercracker said in a strangely high-pitched voice, "You want me to do what sir?!"

Sunstar gave a huge sigh of relief (he hadn't scarred his best soldier for life after all…at least not yet…) and proceeded to explain.

"I was heading off to summon the finest of our seeker elite forces, which I was going to have you command, to launch an aerial attack on Iacon City…" Sunstar paused as he noticed Thundercracker's jaw was hanging open (even wider than the first time) before continuing, "When I came across this poor little sparkling terrified and all alone. I couldn't just leave him but I don't have time to baby-sit either."

"But why me sir?" Why couldn't Sunstar get someone else to do it? Thundercracker thought miserably.

"Because you are one of my highest ranking soldiers and my truest friend TC, so I know that you can carry out this little task for me." Sunstar said almost teasingly.

Upon hearing this, Thundercracker's wings suddenly perked up again and his optics shone. "Do you really consider so much of me?" He couldn't believe what he was hearing! Sunstar, lord of all seekers, really thought of him that way?

"Are you serious?!"

Sunstar smiled warmly and simply stated, "I've never been more."

Thundercracker went silent again, contemplating on what he should do now. He looked at the little black seeker tucked smugly under Sunstar's wing, and noted that it had finally calmed down and was now staring cutely up at him.

"Well…I suppose I could manage somehow," Thundercracker finally gave in and besides; the little seeker _was_ kind of cute. "But this isn't anything permanent is it?"

"No, of course not! I knew I could count on you my friend." Sunstar said cheerfully. "Here you go."

He handed the sparkling to Thundercracker who accepted it hesitantly, then asked, "Does it have a name?"

Sunstar smiled at this and quoted, "He doesn't talk much yet, but he knows how to say some things. When I asked, he told me his name is Skywarp."

"Hmm…Skywarp?" Thundercracker repeated, holding the squirming sparkling at arms length where he could observe it from a safer distance.

Skywarp stopped wriggling for a moment and stared back at him. Then without warning, he smiled and pounced onto Thundercracker's chest, wrapping his little arms around him tightly.

"Mommy? Mommy!" he chirped happily.

Thundercracker glared at Sunstar with a horrified expression on his face.

Meanwhile, Sunstar was almost falling over from laughter. "I think you two will get along just fine." He transformed and took flight before turning around and adding, "Good luck Thundercracker!"

Thundercracker just stood there and watched the sleek, green jet speed off across the sky; his wings were once again drooping.

"What are best friends for? Huh." The big blue seeker muttered to himself.

Skywarp just hiccuped and buried his head in Thundercracker's armour.

A/N- So what do you think? Chapter 2 will be much more exciting. Skywarp is quite a little demon…


	2. Skywarp's special ability

A/N- Ok, this chapter should be a little more exciting than the first. Hope you enjoy and thank you for the reviews!

CHAPTER 2.

**Thundercracker's quarters at seeker air base…**

Thundercracker looked up from his written report on the progress of the war when he was disturbed by something brushing against his leg.

He looked under the table but his optics met nothing. Feeling slightly irritated, the blue seeker was just about to go back to his report, when he felt something drop rather hard onto his back and yell, "Boo!"

Startled, Thundercracker cried out and whacked his head equally hard on the underside of the table. "Owww! Slag it!!"

Skywarp sat on Thundercracker's back and stopped trying to pull his wings off, a horrified expression on his face.

"Um-mah, Bad word! I'm telling Sunstar on you!" Skywarp reprimanded.

"Oh shut up you little brat! It was all your fault anyway!" Thundercracker snapped coldly. He reached back and snatched the stunned sparkling off his wings.

The big mean seeker glared angrily at Skywarp who was now shrinking back and whimpering in his grip. Then the frightened little seeker started to cry.

Thundercracker suddenly felt a pang of guilt for scolding Skywarp so harshly, he's only a baby after all and probably didn't know better.

"Shhh…please don't cry Skywarp! Look I'm sorry for yelling at you like that. I didn't mean to call you a brat, please…Skywarp!" But Thundercracker's desperate attempts to calm him down only caused Skywarp to squeal louder. This in turn, attracted the attention of Sunstar who happened to be passing by.

Sensing a rat named Thundercracker, Sunstar decided he should take a peek and walked into the room to find a scene of chaos! There was one of his best soldiers looking like he was going to burst out crying himself, with a very disturbed sparkling screaming it's head off in his lap!

After waiting several moments, Sunstar offered a polite "Ahem?"

Thundercracker looked up slowly and an eerie silence fell over the room. Even Skywarp was staring at the green seeker, not daring to make a beep.

"Is everything alright in here Thundercracker?" Sunstar suddenly commanded.

Thundercracker fidgeted nervously for a few moments before blurting out, "Uh…Everything's fantastic Sunstar! Why do you ask?"

"Oh, I don't know. I just thought I heard a commotion in here. So I walk in and find a scene of complete chaos!" Sunstar paused, "That's why I ask."

Skywarp pointed accusingly at Thundercracker. "He swo…" the little black seeker began to explain but was rudely interrupted by Thundercracker's hand slapped tightly over his mouth.

"What? Thundercracker explain yourself immediately!" Sunstar's voice sounded dangerous enough to make even Megatron shudder. If that wasn't bad enough, the green seeker crossed his arms and fixed Thundercracker with a glare that could probably melt the sun, or worse!

"Well…uh… you see…Skywarp was crying for no particular reason…like sparklings do sometimes…and I was just trying to calm him down when you walked in…so everything's under control sir." Thundercracker was desperately stumbling over his words.

Skywarp craned his neck up and looked questioningly at Thundercracker. "Nah!" he denied, shaking his head vigorously.

Sunstar raised an optic ridge suspiciously at his friend. "Uh huh? Is that so?"

"Of course! Would I lie to you sir?" Thundercracker was grinning like a complete blockhead at the greatest seeker who ever lived.

"Must I answer that?" Sunstar said submissively. Seeing that he wasn't going to get anywhere in this conversation, he decided to change the subject.

"Ok, I'll take you word. But if he gives you any trouble you be sure to let me know."

"You can count on me sir! Thank you!"

Sunstar smiled and shook his head as he walked out of the room.

Thundercracker waited until he was sure Sunstar was gone, and then gave a long sigh of relief. That was a close one!

Skywarp had seemed to lose interest on the whole subject and was now looking intently at his caretaker.

"Mama, I'm hungry!" he stated, beating his wings back and forth like a baby eagle.

"How many times do I have to tell you? Firstly I'm not you mother, my name is Thundercracker and finally I'm not a femme!" the blue seeker quoted trying not to lose his temper. Primus it wasn't easy!

Skywarp cocked his head to one side and gave him a confused look. "Why?"

"Because I'm not!"

"Why?"

Now Thundercracker was getting really irritated. "Because male Transformers can't have sparklings!"

"…Why?"

Thundercracker sighed again and gave up. "Nevermind."

Skywarp said nothing for a while. Then he remembered he was still hungry. "Um…Thunder? I'm hungry!"

"It's Thundercracker okay? And do you ever stop?" there was a tired strain in the seeker's normally deep voice.

"Stop what? I'm still hungry! You're not listening to me!" Skywarp whined and looked like he was about to cry again.

"No, you're not listening to me young seeker." Thundercracker corrected sharply and glanced around for any sign of Sunstar. "You know what? Why don't you go play by yourself for a while."

"Aww, I don't wanna! Play with me!" Skywarp whimpered desperately. He didn't like being alone, that was no fun!

"No, no. I'm sure there's plenty of things you could do by yourself!" Thundercracker grunted, standing up and carrying the protesting sparkling to the specially made escape-proof pen that Sunstar 'insisted' Thundercracker install next to his recharge quarters.

"Please! I'll be good! Don't leave me alone!" Skywarp begged his guardian. He fixed Thundercracker with the cutest innocent look he could muster.

Thundercracker simply shrugged and stated, "You'll be fine." Then he dropped the sparkling into the pen and shut the top with a THUMP!

"Good riddance." He muttered rubbing his hands together, and then turned and walked out without looking back.

Unfortunately for Thundercracker, he _should_ have looked back because little did he know that as soon as he turned away, the pen was empty.

Oh yes. Skywarp had just discovered that he had an awesome new ability…

**A/N-** I told you this chapter is a little more exciting. Be sure to tune in to the next chapter where all hell really breaks loose!


	3. The Disappearing Act

A/N: Ok, there's lots of mayhem in this chapter, I repeat LOTS of mayhem! Hope you enjoy and thanks for all the reviews!

CHAPTER 3.

Skywarp teleported out of the pen and now found himself standing smack-bang in the middle of Thundercracker's recharge platform. The little seeker had no idea how exactly he managed pulled that off. All he did was concentrate really hard about getting out of his prison and when he onlined his optics, he was standing here.

Now Skywarp scanned his surroundings cautiously and with great interest, but seeing no one around, he began to relax.

"Cool!" he cried with excitement when he saw all the neat stuff on Thundercracker's desk. It was time to do some exploring!

XXX

Meanwhile, Thundercracker was happily reading his report and enjoying the peace and quiet, completely oblivious to what had just occurred.

"Oh it doesn't get any better than this." He said to himself dreamily.

Just then, Sunstar walked in again with a concerned expression on his face.

"Thundercracker, where's Skywarp?"

The worried tones in his leader's voice along with the question itself snapped Thundercracker back into reality. "Huh, what? Oh Skywarp. Yeah I put him into the holding pen." There was no hint of concern in Thundercracker's voice whatsoever.

"No you didn't." Sunstar's reply startled the blue seeker.

"Uh, yes I did Sunstar."

"No. I just went past there and the pen is empty."

"It can't be! Are you sure it didn't skip your field of vision?" Thundercracker ventured.

Sunstar crossed his arms and fixed his friend with a hell-melting glare. "Are you inquiring that I am blind and stupid Thundercracker?"

Thundercracker realised his mistake too late and almost chocked back on his words. "No, no! Of course not Sunstar sir! But I swear on Primus that I put him in the pen!"

"Well he's not there now, soldier." Sunstar stated calmly, straightening up to his proud and commanding posture once more.

Thundercracker stared blankly at his commander. How could the brat have possibly gotten out? The pen was meant to be escape-proof!

The blue seeker knew he must have looked pretty stupid just standing there, gawking into space. He was right. Sunstar gave him a questioning look before saying, "Well, are you just going to stand there like a drone trooper, or are you going to start searching for the poor kid that _YOU _lost?"

"Ah…of course sir. Right away Sunstar!" and without another word, he took off down the corridor. Anyone and _everyone_ knew better than to argue with Sunstar!

The green seeker stared after his friend until he was out of sight. Then he sighed and shook his head. "Why do I even bother sometimes?" he murmured to himself.

XXX

BANG! CLATTER!

"Uh, oh…" Skywarp stared innocently at the pile of data pads he managed to knock off Thundercracker's desk. The little seeker had flitted from Thundercracker's recharge platform to his desk, where the wind created by his wings had sort of caused a miniature tornado effect on a massive pile of data pads.

Skywarp drew his attention back to the stuff on the desk. He saw a large glowing pink energon cube right next to Thundercracker's computer. The sparkling was overcome with joy at this! In all the exciting and strange stuff that happened to him today, Skywarp forgot how hungry he was. Perhaps Thundercracker wouldn't mind if he just had a little of his energon?

XXX

Thundercracker dashed madly from room to room, searching desperately for any sign of the bratling. _Just wait till I get my hands on that slagging sparkling!_ Thundercracker thought angrily. The blue seeker charged into his personal quarters and froze in horror.

"Oh Primus!" Thundercracker's optics registered the sight slowly. His room was completely trashed! All his stuff was on the floor and his energon was gone, some of which was splashed over his computer.

For several astro-ticks all he could do was stare in disbelief at what once used to be his tidy and highly organised room. Then slowly, his gaze swept across the telltale and unmistakable signs of a set of tiny footprints.

_Why that little brat!_ Thundercracker thought angrily, placing his hands on his hips._ When I find you, even Primus won't be able to save you!_

The infuriated seeker proceeded to follow the tracks, but stopped short as he noticed something very peculiar about them. The tracks clearly began at his desk, came out about halfway across the room, then seemed to vanish without a trace. At first Thundercracker thought the little slagger must have flown when he got halfway across the floor, but there were no signs of things being disturbed and blown about like they should be whenever a seeker has been flying around.

"That's weird!" Thundercracker remarked, starting to feel uneasy.

_But how on Cybertron could Skywarp have done that?_

XXX

Skywarp onlined his optics slowly and moaned. He was still not used to the strange sensation of teleporting and it made him feel a bit dizzy. And on top of that, he wasn't feeling too well either.

Looking around cautiously, the little seeker gave his surroundings a thorough scan-over. He appeared to be standing on a deck of some sort outside. Curious, he hopped to the edge of the deck and peered down, then beeped in fright and dashed to the nearest support pole, attaching himself to it like glue. Primus he was so high up! And he was not a very good flier yet!

Skywarp shut his optics tightly and tried to imagine a nicer place. He was trembling so hard that the entire pole shook with the effort.

When he finally mustered the courage to online his optics again, he thought he just saw a sleek, green seeker glide by. Sunstar? Overjoyed, Skywarp called out to him. He was saved!

XXX

Sunstar whipped his head around so fast, that he was almost sure he'd snapped a few neck cables. He was certain that he'd just heard someone yell out his name.

The seeker commander was also searching for Skywarp, so he chose to fly in his robot mode as he could control his speed easier and have a wider field of view.

His keen optics landed on a tiny black figure clinging for dear life onto the watch deck.

"Skywarp? Is that you?" he ventured. He dipped his wing to the right and glided expectantly towards the watch deck.

Sunstar was just about there, when suddenly he was blinded by flash of pink light, so bright that it was almost like a miniature super-nova.

"Whoa! What the…Skywarp!" he abruptly came to a halt, hovering in mid-air. It took a few moments, but when his vision returned and the light cleared, he found himself staring at an empty deck. The place where Skywarp had supposedly been, now stood bare.

Dumbfounded, the 'god' seeker hovered in utter amazement. "Maybe Thundercracker isn't crazy…"

XXX

Skywarp stood on Sunstar's recharge platform, looking scared and confused. "How do I keep doing that?" he asked himself meekly.

Shaking off that difficult question he looked around in great interest. Sunstar's quarters were even more fascinating than Thundercracker's!

For such a highly regarded and organised seeker, his room was a shocking sight! There was stuff everywhere! Data pads, files and strange devices that Skywarp had never seen before lay scattered all over the desk and the floor. But what truly intrigued Skywarp was the sheer abundance of mirrors. Every wall was crammed full of mirrors, they were everywhere! Even on the ceiling! It was almost like standing _inside_ a mirror!

"Sunstar must really love looking at himself!" Skywarp uttered in wonder.

Distracted by the mirrors, Skywarp didn't hear the approach of heavy footsteps down the hall.

"There you are you little bratling! I've been looking everywhere for you! What did you think you were…Whoa!" Thundercracker stood in the doorway, grasping the doorframe to support himself, but he was no longer staring at Skywarp. Instead he was gawking wide-eyed at Sunstar's room, his mouth hanging open in disbelief.

"So this is why Sunstar never lets anyone into his room…Holy Primus! How can someone have that many mirrors?!" Thundercracker breathed, awestruck. Suddenly his thoughts were penetrated by something small yet strong barrelling into his stomach with such force, he nearly fell backwards.

"Ouch! Primus" he wheezed.

He looked down to find Skywarp hugging him tightly and shaking rather violently.

"Thunder! Thunder! I'm scared." The little seeker sobbed, his voice coming out muffled from pressing his face into Thundercracker's armour.

Thundercracker was about to protest, but changed his mind. Hesitantly, he wrapped his arm around the sparkling in an attempt to calm him down (he still remembered last time!)

"I guess our little discussion will have to wait, youngling." He muttered more to himself than to Skywarp. It was a long day…

A/N: So what do you think? I used a flash of bright light to describe Skywarp's teleportation process because I didn't know how else to make it sound dramatic. Anyway, tune in next time to find how that 'discussion' will turn out!


	4. Sorry Thunder

A/N: This chapter focuses on that 'discussion' Thundercracker mentioned at the end of chapter 3.

CHAPTER 4.

Sunstar was glaring angrily at Thundercracker from across the table, rapping his fingers in silent fury on the metal surface. Thundercracker shifted nervously in his seat, one hand supporting Skywarp's aft as the sparkling snoozed peacefully against his chest.

"I believe we have a little matter to discuss." Sunstar announced suddenly, breaking the awkward silence.

"Sunstar sir, I can explain…" Thundercracker's voice came out all shaky and he couldn't bear to look his leader in the optics.

"There's no need to explain my friend." Sunstar replied casually, sitting up straight.

This statement surprised Thundercracker so much that he nearly dropped Skywarp.

"Uhh…" Skywarp moaned irritably. He really wasn't feeling well and he didn't appreciate being woken up so rudely.

"Skywarp is a very special seeker. He possesses a power unlike I've ever seen before." Sunstar quoted seriously. Ignoring Thundercracker's confused expression, he continued, "When he grows up, he may prove to be a very valuable asset on the battlefield."

Thundercracker was lost for words. He just couldn't picture the dim-witted sparkling as being of any value whatsoever. All he knew how to do was trash things, whinge and plaster himself against anything that moved. Had the legendary Sunstar, ruler of all seekers, finally lost his mind?

_It must be all those mirrors!_ Thundercracker decided.

"Uh, excuse me for asking sir, but how exactly will Skywarp be of any use in the war?"

"I'm really glad you brought that up TC…" the green seeker paused, "Skywarp can teleport! I saw him with my own optics!"

Thundercracker stared blankly at his leader for several astro-ticks, then unable to contain himself, burst out laughing. He sure wasn't expecting that!

"Forgive me Sunstar, but maybe you've been staring at yourself in the mirror for too long!" Oh no! Thundercracker had no intention of saying it, it just slipped out automatically! Everything went dead silent again.

_Oh Primus help me!_ Thundercracker thought desperately.

Now it was Sunstar's turn to stare blankly at the blue seeker.

Thundercracker shrank back in his seat like a cornered cat. He watched Sunstar's optics burn with a rage so intense; it made Megatron look as dangerous as an impaired Autobot sparkling. He also noted that the great seeker was breathing heavily and his wings were twitching, (Sunstar often presented himself like this to his most despised enemies, and Primus it was intimidating enough to make even Megatron think twice!)

Finally, Sunstar took a deep breath and said surprisingly calmly "Thundercracker, how did you know about the mirrors? You weren't checking out my room were you soldier?"

Poor Thundercracker was struck speechless. His spark was pulsing so hard that it actually managed to rouse Skywarp awake. The little seeker looked at his caretaker with concern, then followed Thundercracker's gaze to Sunstar, and beeped in fright!

The green mech looked so scary!

"Well, ah…I was looking for Skywarp and I kinda accidentally stumbled into your quarters…and, and…yeah…"Thundercracker trailed off.

"Does that still give you a right to let yourself in, soldier?" now Sunstar looked as if he was going to explode!

"Ah no, it doesn't sir! But the brat was in there!"

Sunstar crossed his arms and twitched his wings doubtfully. "So now you're accusing a sparkling? I really thought you were better than that Thundercracker."

"What? I'm telling you the truth Sunstar! _You_ even said that Skywarp can teleport!" By now, Thundercracker's voice was so high and his wings were drooping like they usually did when he was stressed.

"But I thought you didn't believe me when I said that Skywarp can teleport. You thought I went insane didn't you?" Sometimes Sunstar loved to torture Thundercracker with his words. The blue seeker would end up having a meltdown or blow out his vocaliser, which was always a source of amusement.

Thundercracker froze. How was he supposed to answer that?!

Meanwhile, Skywarp sat silently in Thundercracker's lap. He was not a happy sparkling. In fact, he was downright cranky and irritated. He was tired, his tummy hurt and the big seekers were talking so loudly!

Suddenly he went rigid and began making strange noises. Thundercracker and Sunstar both went quiet and were staring at him with concern.

"Skywarp? Are you okay…what's…" Thundercracker never got to finish his sentence. Without warning, Skywarp hiccuped and then hurled a sizeable amount of partially digested energon onto Thundercracker's cockpit and legs.

Sunstar stared at his friend for several moments, then smiled broadly.

Skywarp hiccuped again and began to settle down. "All good now." He commented happily. Then it sank in what had just happened. The little seeker looked guiltily up at Thundercracker. "Sorry Thunder." He apologised sadly. He felt really bad about what he'd done.

Thundercracker didn't reply. He seemed to be staring off into another world, his arms stuck out stiffly in front of him.

Sunstar got up and cautiously and went to hand his second-in-command a cloth to mop up the mess.

Thundercracker still hadn't moved, apart from his wings, which were slightly twitching just as Sunstar's were before. "Take this sparkling right now!" the blue seeker ordered without looking down.

Sunstar nodded respectfully and scooped the trembling little seeker into his arms. "Are you sure you'll be alright?" Sunstar inquired, handing him the cloth.

"I'll be just fine." Thundercracker said through gritted teeth and snatched the cloth from his commander.

"Okay, then." With that, Sunstar turned and carried Skywarp to his recharge platform.

XXX

"How are you feeling Skywarp?" Sunstar asked the sparkling kindly as he set him onto his back on the platform.

"I'm okay now, but I'm very sleepy." Skywarp replied, yawning.

Sunstar smiled and turned to walk out when Skywarp added, "Is Thunder going to be okay?"

"Oh Thundercracker will be fine, he's been in worse situations before." Sunstar had his back to Skywarp and was trying vainly to stifle his laughter.

"Okay. Good night Sunstar." Skywarp said, feeling reassured, and off lined his optics.

"Good night little fella." Sunstar whispered, and walked off down the corridor, chuckling to himself softly.


	5. Sunstar's Vow

A/N: This chapter was very difficult to write but it was too important to leave out. I promise that next chapter will be funnier.

CHAPTER 5.

**3 months later…**

"Decepticons retreat!" Megatron's typical and half-expected commend rang out across the battlefield. It appears that the Autobots have won the battle, again.

Sunstar observed all this, perched on the relative safety of a massive skyscraper. He was an old seeker and through the vorns he had secretly witnessed this event with utter loathe.

_What are we fighting for anyway?_ This question replayed itself in Sunstar's mind almost constantly these days, and it troubled him. The lights from the ravaged city below him, made his vibrant green armour gleam and his ruby red optics shine like stars. Sunstar felt a great sadness in his spark, but he knew it had to be this way now.

"The time has come for me to put an end to all this." With that, the great seeker launched himself off the skyscraper and silently glided away into the night.

XXX

Thundercracker watched skywarp sleeping peacefully, occasionally making little snorts and twitching his wing. Although he had grown a little, Skywarp was still a sparkling and he required constant supervision. And to make things worse, he could teleport whenever he felt like it, which didn't help to make Thundercracker's job any easier.

But for once, it wasn't Skywarp who Thundercracker was worrying about. The blue seeker noticed that Sunstar was acting…different, for the past few months. Lately he was always so serious and miserable.

Thundercracker could sense that his friend was planning on doing something dramatic and it troubled him deeply.

Skywarp stirred on the recharge platform, attracting Thundercracker's attention once more. Slowly, the little black seeker onlined his optics and stretched lazily. Then he looked hopefully up at his caretaker.

"Bored." He whined loudly.

"Is that the first thing that comes into your head when you wake up?" Thundercracker grunted irritably.

Skywarp went quiet for a few astro-ticks, contemplating. "Yeah!" he stated, nodding vigorously.

"Listen, why don't you go shove…" Thundercracker started, then saw this as a big opportunity. "On second thoughts, I've decided I'm going to teach you how to fly today."

This announcement didn't get the applause he was hoping for. Instead, Skywarp cocked his head to the side and stated, "Um…nah."

"Why not? Don't you want to fly like Sunstar?"

"No." Skywarp was uninterested.

"Why? I know you'll love it!"

"I don't wanna…" Skywarp whinged, "Flying scary!"

"Flying isn't scary, it breaks all the limits and makes you feel free!"

Skywarp looked ready to cry. "No! Flying scary! Don't like heights!"

This statement gained a questioning look from Thundercracker. "What? You're afraid of heights! Are you sure your even a seeker?" he asked in awe.

"I don't know! I don't wanna fly!" Skywarp cried, on the verge of throwing a killer tantrum.

Thundercracker sighed and shook his head sorrowfully. _See what I have to put up with?_ Then, he picked up the squirming sparkling and headed for the flight deck.

XXX

"Now, transform and follow my instructions to the latter, and you'll be just fine." Thundercracker grunted firmly.

"You got it mister!" Skywarp confirmed, raising his arm to his forehead in a salute.

Thundercracker stood on the edge of the deck, leapt into the air and transformed. He did a wide arc, Primus it felt so good to have the wind rushing against his body again!

"Okay, you following me so far?"

"…"

"Skywarp?" Thundercracker spun around and pointed his nosecone at Skywarp. Or rather, pointed his nosecone at the spot where Skywarp had been standing.

"Slag. I've really got to do something about that rotten teleporting ability of his!" growling in frustration, Thundercracker set out on the daunting task of locating the brat again.

XXX

"Hello…anyone?"

Skywarp was scared. He had teleported to a place he'd neve seen before. Wrapping his arms tightly around himself, Skywarp surveyed his surroundings in frozen terror. He was standing in the ruins of what used to be central Sheff-Latta. Now there were flames and the lifeless shells of unlucky Transformers who had fallen victim to the ageless war, scattered all over the place.

"It's cold here." Skywarp whimpered to no one in particular. The little seeker had somehow brought his wings forward and was trying to use them as a blanket. He didn't like it here! He just wanted to be back in the safety and warmth of Thundercracker's arms.

Suddenly, he heard a voice that he didn't recognise. Instinctively, he dashed for cover, crawling under a ruined wall. Cautiously, he peeped out and saw a strange looking flier coming towards him. The stranger stopped not to far from him. He was an ugly robot; defiantly not a seeker and he had a head that resembled a cone. He was red and silver and his wings appeared to be attached to his legs rather than his back.

Skywarp had never seen or heard of a Transformer like this, so he decided to keep quiet.

"See anything Thrust?" a raspy voice ordered.

Skywarp turned and saw a large, white Decepticon walk up to the ugly flier.

"Not yet Megatron." The one called Thrust answered. "This is hopeless sir, that seeker could be anywhere on this planet."

"You will keep searching until he is found, understand! I must have that seeker at all costs!" Megatron snared evilly, tapping his fusion cannon.

Thrust grunted and quoted, "Of course Megatron. I will do an aerial search." With that, the cone head transformed and sped off across the sky.

Skywarp had had enough! He was out of here! Turning around, he accidentally knocked over some loose scrap metal, which attracted Megatron's attention.

Growling, he started towards the sound, but was interrupted by someone touching down loudly behind him.

"Looking for me Megatron?" all optics turned to face the voice. Sunstar stood valiantly upon a charred pillar, arm rifles pointed at Megatron's head, burning hatred showed on his face.

Skywarp saw his chance and focused really hard about being back at the base. He felt the now familiar sensation of teleporting within his spark and vanished into thin air in a flash.

XXX

"You are a fool Sunstar! I am the rightful ruler of ALL Decepticons!" Megatron bellowed, pointing his fusion cannon at the green seeker's chest.

"That may be, but I vow that by the end of this day one shall stand, one shall fall."

"This is where it all ends for you seeker!" and without waiting for Sunstar to react, Megatron fired.

Sunstar cried out in pain as the shot tore through his wing, snapping the fragile tip like a stick. Fazed but not defeated, Sunstar lunged forward, catching Megatron off guard.

The two grappled for several moments, but despite all his skill and power, Sunstar was no match for an outraged Megatron. Grinning evilly, the Decepticon leader slammed Sunstar against a wall using one arm to pin him and the other to search for a weapon.

Megatron's hand closed around a piece of broken pipe and with great force, he drew it into the seeker's spark.

Sunstar gasped, his optics widened in pain and his hand still wrapped firmly around Megatron's wrist. _It's all over. Everything I've fought for has come to an end…_gasping again, Sunstar collapsed to the ground.

"Congratulations…you have…defeated…me. Sunstar croaked weakly. The pain in his heart was unbearable, and he could already feel his life slipping away…

"Huh, you brought this on yourself seeker." Megatron remarked coldly.

Sunstar ignored him and continued, "Promise me…that you'll…you'll look after my men…they belong to you…now…" the hand around Megatron's wrist loosened as the 'godly' seeker's spark died and his vibrant ruby red optics went dark.

Megaton was silent as he thought about Sunstar's last words. Perhaps an army of seekers could prove useful…

The Decepticon smiled coldly. "You have my word seeker."

Without saying anything else, he turned and walked away, leaving Sunstar's body amongst all the other slain Transformers.

A/N: Okay, I had to kill Sunstar eventually but figuring out how to kill such an important person wasn't easy. Next chapter will be focused back on the mischievous and totally unpredictable Skywarp and how he tortures Thundercracker. Poor TC…


	6. The Lesson

A/N: This chapter is a little revealing, and it shows a bit of Thundercracker's past. I've got some good news for Sunstar fans as well; lets just say you haven't heard the last of the 'god' seeker. (As usual, warp tries to put a smile on TC's face but all doesn't go according to plan…)

CHAPTER 6.

Two vorns after Sunstar's sacrifice… 

Skywarp sat on the floor, staring at Thundercracker who had fallen asleep in his chair. The sparkling couldn't help snickering as his elder snored deeply. Suddenly, it gave him a brilliant idea! Grinning mischievously, Skywarp set out to have some fun…

XXX

Ever since that devastating day two vorns ago, Thundercracker had seen Sunstar in his recharge cycle almost every time he went to sleep. His leader's death had taken the most impact on Thundercracker than anyone else. Sunstar wasn't just his commander; he was the closest thing TC had to a family. Though he had never told anyone, the truth was that Sunstar once raised him when he was a sparkling, much like he had to raise Skywarp now.

But now, Sunstar was dead and he never found out who or what killed the greatest seeker of all time. All he knew was that their new 'leader' Megatron claims to have been sent to take over the seeker army by Lord Sunstar himself. Whether this is true or not, he would probably never know.

However, the ageing seeker had his doubts. It just didn't sound like Sunstar to pass over leadership of the entire seeker race to one of his greatest rivals. Besides, Sunstar always used to comment on how Thundercracker was his second-in-command and that he could trust him with anything, so why hadn't Sunstar made _him_ the new commander? This thought hurt Thundercracker deeply (but he never told anyone of course.)

The blue seeker also began to have his doubts as to whether Sunstar was truly dead and gone forever.

In almost every recharge cycle, Sunstar 'visited' him and told him things. At first, TC was kind of freaked out about it, but now it had become almost like a routine for him. This meant that he spent a lot of his time sleeping these days, much to Skywarp's disapproval…

XXX

Skywarp returned with a box full of small, unwanted junk. Among these things were half a dozen screws and bolts, small twisted bits of scrap metal, pieces of rubber and a couple of very old toy cars; most of which were broken or had parts missing.

Grinning happily, Skywarp clambered onto the chair beside Thundercracker and with a huge effort, managed to drag his box of _treasure_ onto the table.

Ironically, Thundercracker didn't even stir (he appeared to be a very heavy sleeper.)

Skywarp rubbed his hands together and danced on the spot, (this was going to be so much fun! Thundercracker didn't seem to want to play with him anymore.)

Luckily, Thundercracker's jaw had dropped open due to the excessive snoring.

"Perfect!" the excited sparkling chirped.

He dug his hand into the box and pulled out a piece of scrap metal. It looked small enough to go virtually unnoticed by his target. The little seeker gave it a final scan over with his optics, took aim, and threw.

The piece of metal soared over Thundercracker's head. Damn! Too high!

"Must be more careful." Skywarp scolded himself quietly.

Sighing, the sparkling rummaged through his box again and found a long screw.

"Cool…" he uttered excitedly, and took careful aim this time, using his finger as a guideline. Then he drew back his arm and threw a bit harder.

The screw sailed gracefully through the air and landed smack-bang in the centre of Thundercracker's forehead, bouncing off with a loud CLING!

The snoring abruptly stopped. "Uhmm…" Thundercracker moaned, amazingly still asleep!

Skywarp held his breath and waited expectantly or him to react. But to his disappointment, the blue seeker merely turned to the side slightly, grunted and resumed snoring as if nothing had happened.

"Wow…no wonder they call him Thundercracker!" Skywarp exclaimed, shaking his head in awe.

In no time, Thundercracker's jaw slid open again, and this time the little seeker was confident he wouldn't miss.

"Okay, best out of three…" Skywarp assured himself encouragingly. He had already chosen his next projectile; a very old looking toy car with three wheels missing and no roof.

Skywarp flitted onto the table and positioned himself so that his wings would give him more stability and propel his throw with greater force. Then he leaned backwards and threw with all his might.

The car hurtled like a bullet towards Thundercracker's face and flew straight into his open mouth.

"Yes! Bullseye!" Skywarp jumped up and down on the table, overcome with joy.

Thundercracker's optics shot online and he coughed and gasped in stunned shock. "What the slag! Who did that!" he wheezed in between coughs.

By now Skywarp was laughing so hard, he thought his wings would fall off! That was awesome!

Poor Thundercracker wasn't enjoying himself very much though; he was still chocking and spluttering, trying desperately to get the horrid object out of his throat.

Skywarp was watching him with wide optics now, the laughter had been replaced by panic._ What have I done! He's going to choke for real!_

"Thunder! Thundercracker!!" he shrieked fearfully.

Thundercracker spluttered in disbelief so violently, the pesky car flew out of his mouth like a missile. _Did I just hear Skywarp scream my full name?!_

"What did you call me?" the blue seeker croaked breathlessly.

Skywarp smiled in relief and launched himself at Thundercracker's waist. "Yay! You're not dying anymore! I'm so sorry for throwing things at you." The little seeker almost tripped over his words.

Thundercracker went very still, his optics beginning to turn hell-red. "What! That was you!"

_Uh, oh…_Skywarp shifted his weight uneasily, staring guiltily at the ground. "Um…yeah…but I'm really sorry!" the sparkling started to back away, his wings drooping nearly down to his knees. "I, ah…gotta go!"

"Oh no you don't!" Thundercracker's hand shot out so fast, the terrified sparkling had no time to react. "Ike!" he squealed in surprise.

Thundercracker raised him up so they were optic to optic. "You're going to come with me right now youngling. I've got a gift for you." The blue seeker taunted, smiling evilly. Skywarp was squirming madly in his grip but he wasn't going anywhere.

"Ow! You're hurting me!" the little seeker wailed on the verge of tears. Thundercracker's hand was holding him so tight, that he was getting squished!

"Good…" Thundercracker hissed coldly. Without another word, he got up and still holding Skywarp, headed to the elevator.

XXX

Thundercracker stood on the flight deck and gazed out over Sheff-Latta. He could see the whole city from here as this was the tallest deck in the base (at least 80 meters tall he thought.) The ageing seeker felt a heavy sadness settle onto his spark, as he remembered how Sunstar used to soar past this deck all the time, watching over and protecting all the seekers below.

Skywarp though, was not enjoying the view. He clearly remembered this deck too and it wasn't one of his favourite memories. He couldn't understand why Thundercracker had brought him up here and he was beginning to have a bad feeling about the situation.

Thundercracker looked thoughtfully at the wriggling sparkling in his hand, and put on his most convincing 'do as I say or else' expression.

"Now, we're going to continue from where we left off last time…" Thundercracker instructed strictly.

"No, no, no! Not that! I promise I'll be extra good! Just don't…" Skywarp protested wildly.

Thundercracker raised a finger to his lips indicating silence, then continued. "Just keep your wings steady and maintain full focus, and you should be able to glide on the wind easily. Use your thrusters to control your speed and change direction." Thundercracker paused, staring sadly at the evening sky and thought about Sunstar. "Got that?"

"But I can't fly! I'm scared…" Skywarp whined trying to break free again.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine." Thundercracker stated flatly and casually threw the sparkling over the edge.

"Ahhhhhh!" Skywarp screamed in horror as he plummeted like a stone for a few meters, then he spread his wings as far as could and instantly found himself soar back up!

For the first time in his life, Skywarp felt the wind beneath his wings and was soon overcome by the trill of flight. _Wow! Why hadn't I tried this before!_

"Hey, this is so cool!" He flew in a graceful arc and headed towards Thundercracker.

"I'm flying Thunder! I'm flying!" he shouted excitedly as he soared past Thundercracker and headed out over Sheff-Latta again.

"Didn't I tell you that you'd love it?" Thundercracker smiled and folded his arms across his chest.

"Sunstar, you would have loved to see this…" Thundercracker whispered to himself. He was a tough seeker everyone knew but today, he could feel a small tear roll down his face.


	7. The New Arrival

A/N: Sorry for the wait guys! I've been kind of busy with year 11 stuff, so I haven't had time to update for a while. Anyway, I still hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the others!

Yours truly, Decepticop.

Thundercracker stood at attention before his new commander, holding Skywarp protectively against his chest. The little seeker looked with pleading optics at his friend.

"I'm bored. Why are we just standing around?"

"Shhh! Skywarp, we have to! Its Megatron's orders." Thundercracker whispered irritably. They all looked up as the main entrance doors suddenly slid open, revealing a stunningly handsome young seeker. The newcomer glanced around nervously before cautiously stepping out.

Megatron gave a fake grin and turned to face his soldiers. "Thundercracker, Skywarp, I'd like you to meet your new sub-commander, the ex-scientist Starscream." The Decepticon announced, his voice containing no interest.

Thundercracker studied the new seeker with hypnotised fascination. He was like no other seeker TC had ever seen. His armour was a vibrant shade of red, white, blue and yellow and his optics seemed to pierce one straight to the core. Somehow all this reminded the blue seeker of Sunstar.

Starscream looked expectantly at the two, tilting his head to the side. "Well, aren't you going to say something?" he inquired rudely.

Thundercracker tried to stifle a laugh. The new guy's voice sounded so high-pitched and shrieking, it just didn't match his impressive appearance one bit. "Um…hi. I'm Thundercracker and this is Skywarp." He managed to mutter.

Skywarp stared at Thundercracker, folding his arms in disapproval. "I don't like him! He sounds funny!" the sparkling glared angrily at Starscream.

"Um, Skywarp? He _can_ hear you." Thundercracker reminded flatly.

Starscream gazed resentfully at his 'wing mates' and remarked, "You better watch your mouth youngling!"

"You re a jerk!" Skywarp spat, trying to break away from Thundercracker and launch himself at Starscream.

"ENOUGH!"

Everything went silent as Megatron pointed his fusion cannon threateningly at the group. "You **WILL** obey Starscream whether you like it or not, understand?" he bellowed.

Starscream nodded and raised an optic ridge at Skywarp. Skywarp poked his tongue out at him and turned away. Thundercracker grunted and turned his gaze to the floor. _There is definitely something familiar about this seeker, I just can't put my finger on it…_

"Meeting dismissed." Megatron ordered and stalked out of the room, muttering something about senseless, dim-brained seekers.

Starscream was staring vacantly at the floor, sadness showing in his optics.

Thundercracker couldn't help asking, "Hey, what's wrong?"

Sighing, Starscream looked up and responded, "It doesn't matter." Without saying anything further, he turned and walked gingerly to his new personal quarters.

"There's something about him…" Thundercracker trailed off.

XXX

**2 days later…**

"Where does the 'glamorous' Megatron keep those slagging energon cubes?" Starscream told himself sarcastically. Growling in frustration, he savagely pushed aside some datapads on his desk.

Suddenly, there was a peculiar zapping sound coming from behind him. Starscream whirled around suspiciously to find a very cross-looking Skywarp glaring at him from his recharge platform.

"Get lost you little brat!" Starscream snapped coldly.

"Make me!" the sparkling shot back stubbornly, folding his arms and sitting down on Starscream's recharge platform.

"If you don't leave right now, I will rip off your wings and weld them on backwards!" Starscream threatened, taking a few steps forward.

"You re not the boss of me!" the sparkling reprimanded.

"Yes I am! I am your leader!" Starscream's voice was beginning to rise to a high-pitched shriek.

"No! You will never replace Sunstar!"

At this announcement, everything went dead silent. The little seeker had no idea how much his words had _devastated_ Starscream.

The young seeker dropped his gaze to the floor and balled his hands into fists.

Finally, he said in a rather low voice, "I am more like Sunstar than you could ever understand." Without looking up, Starscream pointed to the door. "Just go away." Something wasn't right; his voice was suddenly so shaky and filled with grief.

Skywarp felt a deep, sinking feeling in his spark. He instantly regretted behaving so brashly. "Sorry." He croaked sadly.

"Please, just go."

Hanging his head in shame, Skywarp turned and flitted to the ground. Just before walking out the door, he turned to look back as he heard the contained sobs that came from Starscream.

XXX

Thundercracker raised his optics from his war report as he heard Skywarp enter the room. The sparkling reluctantly clambered onto the chair beside him.

"Hey Skywarp! Have you seen Starscream?"

Skywarp opened his mouth to reply, then remembering the sadness he'd seen in the young seeker, thought better of it. "No, I haven't."

Thundercracker was now watching him with concern. "What's the matter Warp?" Something wasn't right; this wasn't like the hyperactive, obnoxious Skywarp he knew.

"Ah…nothing's wrong." Skywarp responded almost too quickly. "I think I need a good recharge…" he lied, yawning.

"Ah, huh. Right." Thundercracker remarked doubtfully and slowly stood up. _Hadn't the sparkling just taken a ridiculously long recharge a few hours ago? How could he possibly be tired?!_

Sighing deeply to himself, the blue seeker set out to locate Starscream.

XXX

Eventually, Thundercracker found Starscream on the flight deck, leaning on one of the side rails. Ironically, this was the very deck that Sunstar used to pass by all the time on his endless aerial patrols over Sheff-Latta._ It is also the place that I saw Sunstar for the last time…_TC thought sadly.

He walked up to Starscream in silence, and leaned on the rail beside him.

"What's your story Starscream?" Thundercracker announced suddenly, causing his wing mate to jump.

"If I told you…Thunder?…you wouldn't believe me anyway. And besides, it doesn't concern you." Starscream stated without looking at him.

"The name's Thundercracker, okay? Is it that slagging difficult to remember?"

This statement gained a questioning look from Starscream. "What are you talking about?"

"Never mind." Thundercracker dismissed, shaking his head. "Anyway, I really want to hear your story."

"Huh. You can't handle the truth!" Starscream repeated, getting slightly annoyed.

"Try me."

"You really are stubborn aren't you?"

"Is that a compliment?" Thundercracker smiled challengingly, folding his arms and tapping his foot expectantly.

Starscream sighed submissively and finally faced him. "Fine then. I'll tell you. But whatever I say right now stays between us only, got it?"

Thundercracker hesitated, then nodded respectfully.

"I assume that Sunstar never told you about me…" Starscream paused and glanced around nervously, then he added in a whisper, "His son?"

Thundercracker gaped in disbelief at Starscream. He was utterly speechless! For as long as he'd known him, Sunstar had never mentioned that he had a son! And _where_ exactly was this 'special' seeker hiding up until now?

"Are you really Sunstar's heir? I don't believe it!"

"Well, I'm sorry if I'm not what you expected!" Starscream informed sharply, crossing his arms and looking away.

Thundercracker instantly realised that he had offended the young seeker.

"Oh, no! I didn't mean you! I just can't believe Sunstar never told anyone!"

"Huh. I'm not surprised. If my father had told of my existence, then word would have gotten out and someone was bound to seek out and destroy me." Starscream explained, flexing his wings to their full extent.

Meanwhile, Thundercracker had gone from excitement to grief again. Talking about Sunstar still made his spark hurt.

"What about the little black Terrocon? If he finds out about this, then soon the whole planet will know!" Starscream glanced around worriedly.

Thundercracker smiled and placed his hand reassuringly on his 'sub-commander's' wing. "Don't worry, Skywarp won't find out."

Unfortunately, neither of them heard the soft giggle coming from under the flight deck's suspension, or saw the tiny pair of ruby red optics glow with mischief…


	8. Screamer Don't Be A Hero Part 1

A/N: For the next series of events, I've broken them up into 3 chapters; otherwise I'd end up with one massive chapter! Hope you enjoy and read & review!

CHAPTER 8.

"Decepticons retreat!"

_There goes that typical command again. _Thundercracker thought resentfully. _Megatron is a coward, when the going gets tough it's always time to give up. _The old seeker gave a long sigh; _Sunstar would never have done that…_

Having no other option, Thundercracker obediently transformed and headed back to the base, oblivious that something was left behind…

XXX

"What are out next battle plans Optimus?" Jazz inquired his leader.

"We mustn't let the Decepticons claim Iacon…" Optimus started but was rudely interrupted by a loud '**BANG!'** above their heads.

"What in the universe…"

XXX

"Oops!" Skywarp froze mid-stride, holding a hand up to his mouth. He was in a crawlspace somewhere in the Autobots base. The little seeker had snuck in while everyone was fighting, hoping to find some fun. But now, he was beginning to have his doubts as to whether this really was a good idea…

Skywarp waited several astro-ticks before he dared to move on. Suddenly there was a strained '**creak'** and he looked up, expecting the ceiling to cave in on him. Instead, he found himself dropping like a stone through a trap door beneath his feet!

"AHHH…HUMPH!"

The sparkling scanned his surroundings in a daze. He had apparently landed on his aft, smack-bang in the middle of a group of equally confused Autobots. The Autobots just exchanged bewildered glances with one another.

"Um…hi. This is a lovely base you've got here!" Skywarp commented lamely, slowly getting to his feet.

One of the Autobots, an aged red and silver mech, stepped forward and shoved a large gun in the sparkling's face.

"Eeep!" Skywarp squeaked, putting his hands over his head in surrender.

"No Ironhide!" a slender blue and white Autobot stepped in front of the first, gesturing to his comrades to hold their fire.

"Have you lost some logic chips Mirage? It's a Decepticon! Let me blast it!" Ironhide protested.

"No! Don't you see? It's a sparkling!" Mirage tried to reason.

"So? Better if we terminate it now before it grows up and terminates us!"

There was a chorus of "yeahs" from the other Autobots.

"Wait, I've got a plan! Just play along." Mirage whispered to Ironhide patiently.

The slender Autobot kneeled down to the sparkling's level and asked calmly, "Hi there little fella. What's your name?"

"Skywarp. Who are you?" the little seeker demanded hesitantly, taking a step back.

"I'm Mirage. Don't be afraid Skywarp… we won't harm you. Are you lost?" the Autobot slowly reached his left hand forward, trying to get the sparkling to focus on it as he strategically eased his right behind Skywarp, in an attempt to grab him when he drops his guard.

Without warning, the door banged open, causing Skywarp to whirl around and come face to palm with Mirage's hand. Slightly startled by the door himself, Mirage made a desperate grab for the seeker. "Gotcha!"

"Ike! Let me go!" Skywarp shrieked, squirming like a mad thing.

Optimus Prime stood in the doorway, looking quite bemused. "What's going on in here?"

The Autobot commander shifted his gaze to his spy trooper. "Mirage? Is that a …"

Skywarp had had enough! It was time to bust out of here! Seeing his chance, the seeker launched into action.

"OWWW! PRIMUS GET IT OFF!" Mirage must have been quite a sight, doing some kind of frantic dance, waving his arms around and trying to dislodge the sparkling, who had his razor-sharp little teeth stuck firmly in the Autobot's wrist.

Meanwhile the other Autobots were practically falling over from laughter, even Optimus had to use the doorframe to steady himself!

"Hey great plan Mirage! Using yourself as bait to catch a Decepticon? Why didn't _I _think of that before?!" Ironhide chocked out.

Feeling rather proud of himself, Skywarp finally decided to let go, and hit the ground running. The sparkling shot straight between Optimus Prime's legs and sped off down the corridor like a missle.

"Autobots, we must track him down! Roll out!" Optimus ordered with authority. "But don't harm him under any circumstances!"

Ironhide lowered his arm cannons, looking disappointed.

The search for the renegade seeker was on!

**To Be Continued…**


	9. Screamer Don't Be A Hero Part 2

A/N: The mayhem continues…

CHAPTER 9.

"What do you mean you lost him?!" Megatron wasn't a very happy Decepticon.

"Since when was the miniature Terrocon at the battle?" Starscream chimed in, looking perplexed.

"He must have teleported to the site when we all left…" Thundercracker said more to himself than his comrades. "My poor little Warp…"

Starscream was studying him with particular interest. "He did what now?"

_Oh! _Thundercracker just realised that he hadn't explained Skywarp's unique and pesky ability to either of them. Only he and Sunstar had known (and almost certainly the Autobots by now!)

The blue seeker turned his gaze to the floor and muttered through gritted teeth, "It's a long story…I'll tell you later."

Meanwhile, Megatron looked ready to explode! "Here's a hint, why don't the two of you get your tailpipes out there before your wings end up on your feet like a cone head's!"

"Yes, right away sir." Thundercracker complied.

"Don't push me…" Starscream started to protest, but was cut off by Thundercracker's quick reflexes, which involved being dragged most unroyally by the wing towards the flight deck…

XXX

"Cool…!" Skywarp breathed in awe. In his desperate attempt to find a place to hide from his pursuers, the young seeker had accidentally stumbled upon this awesome laboratory! On the front door was written in terrible Cybertronian script: _Wheeljack's Lab… _and inside was a staggering collection of weaponry, strange gadgets and odd half-completed projects and inventions.

"Its playtime…" the sparkling stated in glee, an evil grin spread across his face.

XXX

"I think he went this way!"

"Keep searching Autobots! We must find him before he gets himself or anyone else into serious troub…"

**THUMP!**

Before he realised what had happened, Optimus found himself facedown on the floor. _How humiliating!_

"Uh…Prime? Are you alright sir?" Jazz ventured cautiously.

"I've never been better Jazz, thanks for your concern!" Optimus got up slowly, avoiding his second-in-command's penetrating stare. Instead he focused his attention on the object that felled him.

It appeared to be a container of some sort with the inscription '_Danger! Handle with great care!'_

_No doubt it came from Wheeljack's Lab!_ Optimus consulted sheepishly. But what troubled the Autobot commander most of all was the fact that it was _now _an empty container…

"This doesn't look good Jazz. Come on! We must hurry!"

XXX

Starscream crept as quietly as he could into the Autobots base. He and Thundercracker had agreed to split up in the search for the missing sparkling as they could cover more ground this way. Unfortunately for Starscream, he had come across the enemy's base first by chance and it was now up to him to play saviour…

Muttering curses to himself, the seeker rounded a bend…and came face to face with an Autobot patrol!

"What the?! Decepticon intruder!" Prowl responded fast, but not fast enough.

Starscream screeched in alarm and instinctively activated his null rays, catching the Autobot by surprise. Prowl fell to the ground, helplessly paralysed.

Deciding that he didn't want to stick around for any more surprise guests, the seeker bolted down the corridor, almost bowling over another trooper in his haste!

XXX

Optimus Prime was on a role. He had no problem tracking down the renegade sparkling now, as the culprit left behind an unmistakable trail of miniature pink-stained footprints and destruction throughout the base.

Smiling to himself, the Autobot turned a sharp corner…and stopped dead in his tracks! There in front of him, was the sparkling all right, only he was currently lying very still in the middle of the passage.

"Oh Primus, I'm too late!"

Optimus slowly walked up to the little seeker and gently gave him a shove with the tip of his rifle. As he had feared, he received no reaction; no indication of life…

**To Be Continued…**


	10. Screamer Don't Be A Hero Part 3

A/N: The name of the chapter says it all!

CHAPTER 10.

Thundercracker stood on a metal outcrop overlooking the now charred and dead City Of The Seekers, feeling struck by grief. He truly didn't want to give up and he feared for his little friend deeply, but he felt as if he'd searched across the whole planet in vain.

Lost in thought, Thundercracker was taken by completely surprise as something cold and incredibly light touched his shoulder. The seeker whirled around and the sight that met his optics almost caused him to go into stasis lock! There, standing behind him, looking as valiant as ever was Sunstar!

Thundercracker gasped and took a step back, his wings trembling and his mouth hanging open in shock.

"Sunstar!!! Is it really you?!! How…What…why?"

The mech standing before him sure looked like Sunstar but he was almost transparent!

Smiling warmly, the seeker spirit attempted to explain. "Don't be afraid my old friend. It is me…well sort of…"

"Sort of?! What do you mean sort of?" Thundercracker demanded, regaining his courage.

Sunstar's wings twitched as he fixed the other seeker with a 'how dare you question me soldier?' look. "You see when I was…ah…executed all those vorns ago, a few essences of my spark managed to survive, thus allowing my spirit to continue to exist."

Thundercracker dropped down to his knees, overcome by mixed emotions. "But Sunstar my lord, what are you doing here?"

Sunstar's expression grew sad as explained. "I will appear to guide you whenever you face your darkest hour…" he paused and turned his head away. "Skywarp is in grave danger, you must find him."

"But I've looked everywhere Sunstar. I don't know what to do anymore."

Sunstar seemed to falter for a moment, then announced, "Starscream is close now. You must find him and lend assistance."

Thundercracker was suddenly reminded that he had a few questions on that topic.

"Sunstar…how come you never said anything about Starscream before?" he ventured.

The seeker spirit was silent for several astro-ticks, then answered without looking up, "I couldn't risk rumours going around. Please understand my friend, I had no choice."

Thundercracker nodded respectfully, then unable to contain his grief anymore, began to sob quietly.

"Hey what's wrong TC?" Sunstar inquired with concern.

"It's just that…everything's falling apart since you've been gone. And…and…all the seekers miss you so much." Then he added in a tone that almost broke Sunstar's spark, "Especially me…"

Sunstar kneeled down and placed a reassuring hand on Thundercracker's wing. This caused the blue seeker to gasp, "Your hands…they're so cold."

"Don't cry for me TC, you have to be strong for Skywarp now."

Thundercracker forced himself to finally meet his former commander's stare. He could have sworn that he saw a tiny tear, barely visible; appear in the god seeker's ruby red optic!

"Remember, no one ever has to be alone. If ever you feel alone just look into your spark and know I'll be there."

Thundercracker nodded and turned to gaze at his homeland once more. That was when the question that's been bothering him the most for vorns finally surfaced. "But Sunstar you never told me who did this to you…"but as he turned to look back, Sunstar was gone.

XXX

Optimus Prime and a number of other Autobots were clustered around Wheeljack's table, studying the subject with deep concern. On top, little Skywarp lay unconscious…or dead.

Wheeljack looked questioningly at his leader and demanded, "How exactly did this happen?"

"We're not certain but I suspect it has to do with this." Optimus held out the empty container to the scientist.

"Where did you get that?"

"I tripped over it in the passageway."

Mirage stepped forward, raising a bandaged hand (the one that the seeklet had tried to eat) at his commander. "Wait. What do you mean '_tripped over_' Prime?"

The other Autobots were unsuccessfully trying to hold back laughter.

Optimus shot them all a death stare and quickly remarked, "Never mind. Back to the subject."

Meanwhile Wheeljack turned the container around in his hand, and his distinct blue vocal indicators flashed a warning red. "Primus! This isn't good news…" but before he could finish, Wheeljack collapsed to the floor, immobilised.

Everyone turned to see a furious looking Starscream, null rays at the ready, leering at them from the doorway.

"What have you done to him!" the seeker shrieked, starting forward.

"Autobots battle stations!" Optimus commanded.

Two Autobots stood in front of the table, trying to prevent the seeker from getting to Skywarp. Starscream didn't seem to take any notice, he just rammed into them like a tank, sending both Autobots to the side like bowling pins.

He made it to the table and snatched up the sparkling, who still showed no signs of awareness. Then he triumphantly headed back to the door.

Several Autobots gave chase, but the seeker was much faster. He ran right through the base to the other side, and eventually came to a dead end. "Oh slag it!"

The seeker paced around the room like a caged animal, before he had to audacity to look _up_. The ceiling here looked thin and unstable!

"Come on! I think he went this way!"

Growling in irritation, Starscream pointed all of his considerable arsenal at the roof and fired. Just as he had surmised, it crumbled away easily and he could see the night sky outside!

"Don't even think about it Decepticon!" Ironhide threatened, followed by an armada of other Autobots.

Incredibly outnumbered and without enough time to fly out of there, Starscream resorted to doing what he usually did whenever things didn't go his way. He screamed and screamed and screamed!

"Oh Primus make it stop!" Ironhide pleaded, clutching his audio receptors in desperation. Around him, his comrades were doing the same. The shrieks and screeches created by Starscream were so high-pitched and shrill, it would have been enough to stop an army!

While the enemy was distracted, Starscream wheeled around, and engaging his thrusters took flight. Once he was satisfied with his altitude and speed, he switched them off and allowed the wind to carry him along like a hang glider, Skywarp dangling feebly from his arms.

XXX

Back at Decepticon headquarters, Starscream sat in the control room, gingerly cradling Skywarp in his arms.

Thundercracker stood across from them, never taking his optics off the sparkling. The aged seeker had some knowledge about repairing other Transformers (thanks to Sunstar) but even he was powerless to help Skywarp.

Suddenly, the little seeker gave a twitch, then stirred. Slowly and weakly he onlined his optics and struggled to sit up. He felt down right rotten. There was a sharp pain in his head and his tank felt dangerously unsettled.

The two adult seekers observed in silence; one with massive relief and joy, the other suspiciously and greatly bothered.

"Well it's about time you decided to…" Starscream began, but was abruptly cut off by something hot and foul splattering over his beautiful armour and cockpit.

"Oppsie!" Skywarp looked guiltily at the mess he had created and instinctively began with, "Sorry Thunder…" he looked up, "What?! You're not Thunder!"

Starscream was boiling over with rage now. "No! I believe you have the wrong seeker!" with that, Starscream's hand wound it's way around the sparkling's neck and the next thing he knew, Skywarp found himself sailing upside down through the air!

Thankfully, he was heading straight for Thundercracker. "Gotcha!" the blue seeker held the terrified sparkling protectively to his chest. "I can't imagine what you've been through! Are you okay Skywarp?"

"My tummy hurts." He whimpered.

"Well there's nothing much I can do about that." Thundercracker reasoned sadly. "Tell us what happened to you at the Autobots base."

Skywarp thought hard for a moment. "Um…the last thing I remember is finding this awesome room and playing with all these cool thingies…and drinking something pink…then trying to run away from the bad robots but everything started to go _'beep'_ in my head and I was all like '_whoa'…_then…then everything went dark." the sparkling thought it was a pretty good explanation.

Thundercracker seemed to be having some trouble deciphering that story but eventually his expression turned angry. Crossing his arms sheepishly, he lectured, "Warp, you afthead! If you just keep sampling random…_stuff_…you'll end up poisoning yourself!"

"Ahem…" Starscream interrupted, having cleaned off all the energon and bile.

Thundercracker smiled and announced, "Meet your saviour Skywarp. Starscream here was the one who rescued you from the enemy."

The little seeker's features lit up at this. "Really? Thanks Screamer! Sorry I was such a jerk to you before."

Starscream's wings were spasming by now. "What? Screamer?! Is that an insult?!"

Skywarp chirped in joy and flew into Starscream's arms, giving him one of his killer hugs.

"Hey get off me you!" Starscream screeched irritably.

"You're my hero!" the sparkling crooned, ignoring the seeker's rants and curses.

_That's the last time I ever rescue someone again!_ Screamer thought regretfully.


	11. The Truth Comes Out

A\N: Sorry for taking so long to update

A\N: Sorry for taking so long to update! I've been overwhelmed with homework and assignments lately and on top of this, I've been visiting my grandparents for two weeks so I had no access to the computer. Anyway thank you all for the reviews and be sure to stay tuned for some more mayhem!

CHAPTER 11. THE TRUTH COMES OUT.

"Yes! At last!" Starscream put down the datapad with an overwhelming sense of pride. He had been faced with the gruelling task of figuring out a clever strategy for the next assault on the Autobots and finding a way of making it fool proof. It had taken the seeker several weeks but finally he had something to boast about to his _leader._

"I'll show that Megatron. It just might be time for a new leader for the decepticons…"

Suddenly, Starscream's thoughts were shattered by a loud and unusual scraping sound, which appeared to be coming from beneath him. He automatically bent down to peer under the table, but his optics registered nothing out of the ordinary. _Strange…_

Mumbling undignified things to himself, the seeker turned back to his masterpiece… and shrieked in disgust!

Skywarp smiled innocently back at him from the top of the table, his filthy little thrusters had unerringly mangled and totally erased Starscream's priceless datapad!

"Wow…can you teach me to scream like that?" the sparkling inquired admiringly.

Starscream looked dangerously faint and his normally vibrant armour went dull. "AHHHHHH!! How dare you, you little runt! Slag off! Go annoy thundercracker!" His voice was so high-pitched, that it was barely recognisable.

Skywarp just folded his arms stubbornly and informed, "But Thundercracker isn't my hero, he just looks after me…and feeds me…and tells me stories when I can't sleep…and lets me play with him…anyway, _you_ saved me so that means you're my hero!"

_Saving his sorry aft was the biggest mistake of my life!_ Starscream mused regretfully._ Maybe I should have listened to my father more…_

Lost in his thoughts, Starscream just realised that Skywarp was _still _rambling! _Primus, how do you turn this slagging thing off?!_

"And when I grow up, I wanna be someone else's hero too!" the sparkling finished proudly, beating his wings back and forth with joy.

"Then I think you've got some growing up to do!" Starscream shrieked in irritation and strode to the door briskly, not noticing the hyper sparkling flit off the table and follow him, trying his best to mimic the other seeker's aggravated stomps.

Instantly he froze as Starscream whirled around and fixed him with a spark-wrenching stare. Skywarp pretended to look around the room innocently. "What?"

Growling, the red seeker continued on his way, Skywarp following at a respectful distance.

XXX

Meanwhile, Thundercracker was indulged in the peace and quiet as he rearranged and cleaned his already spotless room. "Ah…just like the good old days…" he stated dreamily.

"Enjoying the serenity are you Thundercracker?"

"Huh, what?" the blue seeker spun around in surprise. "Oh Sunstar, it's you."

Sunstar smiled warmly and bowed his head. "It seems that Starscream finally got a taste of his own medicine."

Thundercracker looked utterly confused. "What are you talking about Lord Sunstar?"

The look that Sunstar gave him appeared to say, 'you stupid seeker! You know what I mean.' But instead, the seeker spirit replied, "You know. Spending all that quality time with Skywarp."

Thundercracker felt incredibly stupid at the moment._ Why do I always have to make a cone-head out of myself in front of the greatest seeker that ever existed?_

"Oh yeah, Skywarp got a kick out of that saviour business didn't he?"

"I'll say! But I'm not so sure I can say the same for Starscream though."

The two seekers looked at each other and cracked up laughing. As always, Sunstar managed to pull himself together first and sat down at the edge of Thundercracker's recharge platform.

"He was a horrid little sparkling, Starscream." The spirit seeker stated comically.

Thundercracker cocked his head to the side with interest. "Oh yeah? How so?"

"Well, there is a very logical reason why I named him 'Starscream' you see. Once, he just screamed and screamed for no real reason, until he flunked his vocaliser. Then the next day, the little Terrocon managed to master sign language and was gesturing so hard, that one of his wings almost got detached!" Sunstar's wings drooped after he finished explaining and he looked away quite embarrassed. "You know how hard it was to look after the wellbeing of the entire seeker race _and_ have to come home to that everyday?!"

Thundercracker was practically rolling on the floor from laughter! "Holy Primus! And I thought Skywarp was the ultimate terror seeker!"

XXX

Starscream had just about had it! He whipped around in fury to face Skywarp. "Leave me alone!"

"Leave me alone!" the little seeker repeated in the shrillest voice that he could manage.

Starscream bore a striking resemblance to a volcano that was about to erupt. "Oh get off my wings! You have got to be the most annoying piece of scrap metal to ever walk Cybertron!" he shrieked.

Skywarp hesitated for a moment, before mimicking, "Get off my wings! You have got to be the most annoying piece of scrap metal to ever walk Cybertron! Like that?"

"What did you call me?! Do you know who I am? I am Starscream the mighty! I command you to stop imitating me!" by now, Starscream was beginning to lose his voice.

Skywarp hesitated again. _How am I supposed to copy that? _After thinking for a while, the sparkling looked up and replayed, "I command you to stop imitating me!" while trying so hard to make his voice all scratchy and distorted too.

"Oh that does it!" Starscream charged forward like a freight train and snatched the sparkling up by one arm before the little seeker could make an 'eeep'.

"Hey that's not fair!" Skywarp protested as he dangled helplessly in Starscream's grip.

A wicked smile crossed Starscream's face as he retorted, "No, I'll show you what's not fair…"

"Uh oh…"

XXX

Up on the flight deck, Starscream dangled the sparkling over the edge threateningly. Skywarp looked at him with pleading optics. "No! Please not this again! Why does everyone always throw me off here?"

Starscream sighed and muttered, "I wonder why? Hey, it's time for your flying lesson!"

"No, anything but that…!" but before the little seeker could protest, Starscream mercilessly pulled back an arm and catapulted him clear across the sky.

"Good riddance. That's one problem solved." The red seeker chortled, rubbing his hands together satisfactorily. Feeling incredibly pleased with himself, Starscream took the stairs (he couldn't stand the elevator, as he was unbelievabvly claustrophobic), back to the first floor of the base and headed to his personal quarters.

"Now to fix the datapad I worked so hard on…if it can be fixed." He felt his rage boil over as he pictured the delinquent sparkling standing on his irreplaceable piece of genius. Growling, he focused on putting these thoughts out of his mind as he entered the security code on the door and walked in.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH! Impossible!" the shrill cry reverberated through the entire first floor!

For there, standing as innocently as ever on his recharge platform, was Skywarp. Upon seeing his hero enter the room, the sparkling beat his wings so hard from joy that his shoulders and back danced with the effort! "Hey what took you so long my friend?" he asked, folding his arms in mock anger.

But, but I just…how did you get in here so fast?! And how did you get past the security lock?!" Starscream's voice was dangerously out of tone by now.

Skywarp only shrugged and stated, "I'm special." _Of course he teleported into the room, but Starscream still didn't know about his special power and there was no way Skywarp was going to tell him!_

"Thundercracker! Get this piece of scrap metal out of my face immediately!"

XXX

Thundercracker turned to look at the entrance to his quarters. Was that Starscream calling him from the other floor? Shrugging the blue seeker turned his full attention back to Sunstar, (this was too good to miss out!) "So how did you deal with Starscream if he wouldn't stop ranting?"

Sunstar sighed and scratched a wing tip. "Well, to tell you the truth, I never _could_ get him to shut up. The solution more likely than not, was usually just giving him whatever it was he wanted and on some occasions, begging him to be quiet. This led to him being an incredibly spoiled sparkling, and might even have contributed to the way he behaves today."

"Wow…what a little brat! Um, no offence Sunstar!" Thundercracker stammered.

Sunstar chuckled and calmly replied, "Not taken my friend. But remember_ I _was the one who had to put up with him, and it's funny to talk about it now but it wasn't very funny when I had to live through it."

"Gee, I hope Skywarp changes his ways when he grows up…" Thundercracker stated worriedly.

As the two seekers were reminiscing, they never heard the approach of heavy footsteps in the passageway. Megatron stopped outside the room, hidden by the open door. As he peered in, his spark seemed to freeze over. _Impossible…its Sunstar! No, I destroyed him!_

"It can't be…"

A/N: There we go! I promise to work on the next chapter as soon as I can! Also, in the part where TC calls Warp the ultimate terror seeker, I just want to point out that "Terror Seeker" is a term I made up for the Starscream from the 2007 Transformers Movie because I've always considered him as type of ancient monster seeker or a bit like the Tyrannosaurus Rex of the seekers because of his size and fearsome looks. Just my pen name "Decepticop" which is the term I use to describe Barricade.


	12. The Price Of Friendship

A/N: Warning: this chapter contains suspense and unerring mayhem

A/N: Warning: this chapter contains suspense and unerring mayhem! Also contains content that could drastically change the outcome of the lives of the seekers. Apart from that, enjoy and review!

CHAPTER 12. THE PRICE OF FRIENDSHIP.

Thundercracker looked about himself with ever mounting uncertainty. His spark pulsed so hard inside his chassis that it was painful, as he took in the situation. _Why had Megatron called me out here? Did I do something wrong?_ He wondered nervously, his wings trembling slightly. Indeed Megatron had demanded to meet Thundercracker outside the base to discuss some urgent matters. The Decepticon leader's voice sounded viciously infuriated over the comm. Link, which only added to Thundercracker's growing anxiety, but he honestly had no clue as to what he could have done to enrage him to that extent.

Suddenly, Thundercracker's spark froze over at the sound of crunching metal behind him. _Here we go…_he thought in dismay.

"I think you know why I summoned you out here seeker." Megatron's voice was tinted with a burning resentment.

Thundercracker gulped and turned around to face his commander. "No, Megatron sir. What seems to be the problem sir?"

"Don't play games with me seeker, I'm not in the mood. You know exactly what I'm talking about. Sunstar lives, I've witnessed your little 'conversation' personally."

Thundercracker's spark went into overdrive again and his vibrant blue armour turned pale at the mention of this. Deep down he knew the day would come, when Megatron caught him talking to Sunstar. He was living on borrowed time and this realisation alone, made him feel sick to his core. For the moment being, he was utterly speechless.

Megatron took a menacing step forward and continued, "You knew about this all along didn't you? You thought you could hide your little visits with that incompetent Sunstar from me, Megatron? Well I must say I'm quite impressed that you've kept it secret from me for so long Thundercracker. I suppose congratulations are an order. But now you realise you must pay the price for your insubordination!"

Thundercracker backed up against a wall as the outraged Decepticon advanced on him. The outcome was inevitable…

XXX

"Don't touch that!" Starscream screeched frantically.

BANG!

"Oops, sorry!" Skywarp cooed sincerely, looking guiltily at the shards of broken flask and mysterious fluorescent liquid all over the floor of Starscream's room.

Starscream slapped a hand over his face in dismay. "What did I just tell you?"

"Umm…hey! What's this!" Skywarp exclaimed excitedly, seizing a bizarre sparkly black cube from a nearby shelf.

Starscream froze in dread. "Be careful with that! It's a Dark Matter Cube! Extremely dangerous, extremely explosive! Put it down with the uttermost care…!" but he might as well have been talking to a brick (Skywarp certainly carried the intelligence and logic capacity of one) for the sparkling was paying no attention whatsoever and began recklessly squeezing and poking the said object in his hands. Suddenly, the cube began to vibrate violently and emit alarming beeping sounds.

This was enough to bring the sparkling to his senses. "Uh, oh. I think I did something wrong!" he announced in panic, holding the cube as far away from his body as he could.

"Primus! It's going to explode!" Starscream began panicking wildly for a moment, before he realised he had to find a way of discarding the device…fast! So pulling himself together, he instructed as calmly as he could, "Listen very carefully young seeker. Whatever you do, don't drop the cube under any circumstances understand? Okay, now just hand it over nice and slowly…"

But before Starscream could finish, the sparkling had eagerly shoved the cube into his arms. Starscream just stared blankly at it for what seemed like jorns, he hadn't really thought about what he was going to do with the cube once he'd received it! To make matters all the worse, the beeping had become more urgent and alarming by now, and the cube was glowing like a mini super-nova!

"Take cover!" Starscream shrieked and raced as fast as he could towards the flight deck. But just as he reached the second floor, the cube had become so erratic he realised that he'd never get to the deck in time. He had to discard the cube right now!

Looking around desperately, Starscream located the closest room in the vicinity, and not hesitating, threw the cube in and slammed the door shut behind it.

BOOM!

The red seeker stood motionless in the hall for several moments, then let out a huge sigh of relief and leaned heavily against the door. He almost bought it that time! That was too close!

Gathering himself together, he turned to inspect the damage done to the unfortunate room. As he eased open the door, he was struck with a deep sinking feeling in the core of his tank; the '_unfortunate room'_ turned out to be Megatron's personal quarters! What once looked like a palace, now resembled a war zone!

The explosion generated from the Dark Matter Cube had succeeded in sending energon, files, contraptions, and a host of other personal belongings all over the floor, walls and ceiling. The computer monitor was destroyed and the only window in the room was smashed. Even the recharge platform had been snapped off its suspension and lay mangled in the centre of the scene.

Poor Starscream could just gape wide-mouthed at the expanse of the devastation, his proud wings drooping limply at his sides. "I am going to be slaughtered!" he muttered sadly.

"You're in big trouble mister!" a small juvenile voice announced in an adorably authoritive manner. Starscream felt a few of his circuits blow out of sheer rage as he slowly turned and looked down. There was Skywarp, staring up at him and folding his arms in mock anger.

Starscream's body began spasming uncontrollably and without warning, his hand shot out and wrapped firmly around Skywarp's neck.

"Ike! Ouch, that hurts!" the sparkling expressed in shock, his voice came out all scratchy and distorted from the excess pressure crushing his vocaliser.

"This time you have gone too far you runt!" Starscream hissed through gritted teeth, shaking the frightened sparkling in front of his face.

"Oh, no. Here we go again…" Skywarp whimpered miserably.

XXX

"Please lord Megatron! No more!" Thundercracker begged mercifully. Megatron ignored him and punched him squarely in the face again. Thundercracker collapsed to the ground in a heap. When he tried vainly to get up, Megatron kicked him hard in the stomach and sent him down again.

"Tell me everything you know and I might spare your miserable life." Megatron bellowed in fury.

Thundercracker got to his knees, all covered in muck and one arm clutching his stomach where Megatron had hit him and pleaded in a weak voice, "I'm telling you the truth Megatron! Sunstar is dead but he exists in spirit form. You have to believe me!"

Megatron went silent for a moment, contemplating. "How can this be?"

"I don't know the answer to that sir, but its all true." Thundercracker had somehow managed to get to his feet by now.

Megatron was still pondering the situation but didn't appear overly satisfied with Thundercracker's explanation. _How is it possible for Sunstar's spirit to exist when he is physically dead? _The logic was simply too farfetched but he had witnessed it all with his own optics. _Could it be possible that Sunstar's spark was immortal in some way and so complex, that it could have preserved his image in spirit form?_

"I want you to stay away from that seeker, you hear me? If I ever catch you with Sunstar again, I will dismantle you and that sparkling into scrap! Do you understand?"

Thundercracker hadn't felt so miserable and torn since Sunstar's death. "Yes sir. I promise I will never see him again." It was the hardest and most hurtful thing he ever had to say.

"Good." With that, Megatron turned and headed to the base, never throwing a glimpse back.

Thundercracker watched him depart, and once he felt he was alone, he collapsed to the ground in a sobbing mess. He had never felt so much pain in his entire life. The most important thing in the universe to him had been taken away from him for a second time, and this time it hurt a million times as much because he knew Sunstar was still out there and possibly witnessed this whole ordeal. His insides ached with sadness and the spot where Megatron had kicked him was becoming worryingly painful. But it was his heart that hurt the most and as memories of all that Sunstar had sacrificed for him throughout his life played over in his mind, it seemed to cry out for guidance.

"Sunstar, my lord and faithful friend, I have betrayed you…" 


	13. The Cry Of The Seeker

A/N: I know I haven't updated this story in donkey's years and I feel really bad about making you guys wait for so long

A/N: I know I haven't updated this story in donkey's years and I feel really bad about making you guys wait for so long. All your reviews are what has kept me going with this story so I'd like to say thank you! (I'd especially like to thank Dragowolf and Bloodshifter for your reviews and thanks for staying with me throughout the whole thing so far!). Thing is I've had all these ideas about this chapter in my head but when I tried putting them down on paper, I just couldn't make the bloody thing flow!

Anyway this is what I've managed to come up with. Hope it doesn't bore y'all too much…

Sincerely,

Decepticop 643.

CHAPTER 13. THE CRY OF THE SEEKER.

Megatron's hell-red optics swept over his room in utter horror. The sight they were registering filled him with a rage equivalent to the impending force of a super-nova! It couldn't be…the whole place looked as if a convoy of tanks had passed through it! His private domain along with all his most cherished possessions had been completely obliterated…

The mighty Decepticon leader stood transfixed for what seemed like an eternity before his burning gaze settled on what appeared to be a familiar-looking footprint by his capsized recharge platform.

"Why that putrid retro-rat…!" Megatron suddenly began to shake quite violently and uncontrollably as a clear image of a certain seeker formed in his mind. Unable to contain his rage any longer, the Decepticon gave an infuriated roar and whipped around to punch his doorframe. The impact was forceful enough to create a sizable indentation in the wall and crush a few fingers on Megatron's hand. Ignoring the damage warning flashing before his vision, Megatron drew back his arm and was preparing to strike the wall again when something else caught his attention.

There, decorating the area of floor by the door was a set of smaller prints almost identical in shape to the larger mark inside the room. Whatever amount of sanity previously residing within Megatron had now vanished altogether.

There was a distinctive _click_, as something snapped inside the Decepticon's logic chips and one optic begun to flash on and off alarmingly.

"**STARSCREAM!!" **The furious bellow reverberated and shook the entire base!

XXX

Rumble poked his head through the ventilator shaft as the deafening shout vibrated through the floor and threatened to make the whole ventilation system give way.

"Holy Primus…Soundwave! I think the boss is angry!" he announced unnecessarily.

Soundwave who had been busily typing away at his computer below, looked up and retorted, "You think Rumble?!"

"Well yeah! He sounds so mad, I think we should stay out of his way for a while. That shout had the same seismic effect as my pile drivers!"

Soundwave sighed and turned back to his work. "Yes it was rather impressive…" he started, but was cut off by an exasperated Rumble. "Impressive? It was dangerous! I could have fallen out of this vent and landed on my head and then what?! I would have wound up dumber than a bar of soap…!"

"I think it's a bit late for that! And besides, what were you doing in the vent system anyway?" Soundwave commented sharply and with clear irritation. The message in his voice was obvious, 'shut up and leave…now!'

Unfortunately, Rumble seemed to miss the hint and continued, "Are you saying that I'm dumb?! Well that's not what you thought when you first saw me! Oh no. At that time, you thought a talking Minicon was far from dumb. In fact, you didn't even think there was such a thing! If I recall correctly, you were so impressed by what you saw that you practically _begged_ me to join your little army of cassette spies! Oh was I wrong about you, I should have refused and stayed with all the other Minicons where my talents were appreciated…" (_Blah, blah, blah ECT_).

Soundwave gave a deep sigh and blocked out his audio receptors. _Maybe there's a really logical reason why Minicons can't talk…_

XXX

Unbeknownst of all the scenarios taking place around the base, Skywarp stood outside Starscream's door and knocked expectantly. "Um…Screamer? It's me Skywarp. Look I'm really sorry about the cube incident…"

The only reply he received was a long uncomfortable silence. Regardless, the young seeker continued, "I understand if you're angry with me and all. You have every right to be. But I'm so sorry, I was just trying to have some fun…" he paused and waited for an answer. But all he got was more of that deathly silence.

Still undeterred, the sparkling took a step closer and inquired with high hopes, "Well I was wondering…can we still be friends?"

Silence.

"Okay Screamer you've proven your point. You are beginning to scare me a little bit now…"

Silence.

"Screamer? Screamer? Starscream!" panic began to sweep through Skywarp's circuits as he knocked once more and again received no answer.

"Okay that's it. Permission to teleport into the room?" Skywarp asked no one in particular. Of course he didn't get a reply.

As well as worry, the sparkling was beginning to feel slightly bothered that he was being ignored. "Well I'm going to teleport anyway!" he stated irritably and offlined his optics, concentrating hard on his destination.

When he onlined them again, Skywarp found himself standing in the centre of Starscream's room…alone. Starscream was nowhere to be seen. The more logical part of Skywarp's mind had been expecting to find the room deserted, but he had focused on positive possibilities. So the sparkling received quite a shock when he warped into the unoccupied room with the lock mechanism on the door activated.

"Where could he have gone…?" he asked aloud to no one. He decided to do a thorough reconnaissance of his surroundings and attempt to solve the mystery of the missing seeker. He noted that the window on the far side of the room was wide open but even a seeker as fit and aerodynamic as Starscream would find it impossible to squeeze through there. It was just too small and unless Starscream had the ability to shrink down to Laserbeak's size, the window was out of the question.

Looking around, the young seeker failed to find any other way that Starscream could possibly escaped from the locked room, and he was beginning to wonder if Starscream had even been in here when he disappeared from the base.

Suddenly, Skywarp's gaze drifted over to the red seeker's desk and there he got his answer. Right there on the computer screen was a message that read, 'TELL THUNDERCRACKER I AM NOT COMING BACK.'

Skywarp seemed to have some trouble reading the note as no one had ever taught him how to read and he had never expressed much interest in the topic. It was one of those times that he wished he had. It took the seeker a good twenty minutes or so to figure out what the writing said, and when he finally understood it, he felt a deep sense of despair settle on his spark.

"Oh no. I've made Starscream run away!"

Ever since Starscream had rescued him from the Autobots, Skywarp felt faithful and utterly devoted to his saviour. He had felt a strong connection to the red seeker and didn't know how to show his gratitude, so he began to spend as much time with Starscream as he could. He had decided that he wanted to be just like him when he grew up…

As the sparkling was lost in his reminiscence, another memory slowly began to surface and with it came guilt and a feeling of betrayal. He looked over at the name mentioned on the computer monitor: Thundercracker.

Skywarp realised that his relationship with Thundercracker had been disintegrating as time went by and he had begun following and mimicking Starscream. In fact over time, he had started to forget that Thundercracker even existed. He found this thought was most disturbing now.

Thundercracker was the one who took me in when no one else did. He had always made sure I had energon, a place to live and care…

The young seeker felt a tight sadness welling up inside him as he thought of all the ways he had let his guardian down. Finally he turned his optics to the floor and said, "He provided me with a family. He promised that he'd never turn his back on me…but I turned my back on him. He was devastated after Sunstar died and I abandoned him when he needed a friend more than ever."

Finally the guilt overcame him, and the sparkling sank down to his knees and wept all his sadness out. But with it came yet another memory: Skywarp realised that things didn't have to stay this way.

He remembered something Sunstar had once told him when he was sad, "All wrongs can lead to a right. Life is never straight; it is full of twists and turns and unexpected things and occasionally we may find ourselves flying into a storm cloud. But this doesn't mean all hope is lost.

For example, a seeker might end up breaking his wing and find himself temporarily grounded, but doesn't mean that he'll never soar again. If he has strong will and a pure spark, he can fix his wing and learn to fly again.

You too must seek a way to repair your wing if you wish to soar once more. Remember this and you will find yourself flying out of the storm cloud and gliding on the wind to success."

"Sunstar was right. I have broken my wing and now I must repair it!" With his spark renewed, Skywarp got to his feet and made a vow. "I am going to find Starscream and bring him back. Then I will make things right between me and Thundercracker and everything will go back to the way it was."

Then, not wanting to waste anymore time, the young seeker ran to the window and squeezed through. It was a bit of a tight fit but luckily he was still small enough to get through and launched himself into flight.

With the lights cast from the city below reflecting off his sleek black wings, Skywarp set his sights on the first star of the evening and soared towards it, hoping it would lead him to Starscream.

XXX

Thundercracker was lying on his recharge platform, constantly lapsing in and out of consciousness. At first he wasn't aware of the severity of his injuries following the outcome of Megatron's _interrogation._ Nor did he care.

The blue seeker had been experiencing some serious pain in his stomach ever since that horrific night, but he had been dismissing the messages his body was trying to tell him. He had just done the unimaginable. He told Megatron of Sunstar's existence. He had betrayed his lord: the seeker of all seekers.

So far as he saw it, Thundercracker didn't deserve to be repaired. He was a traitor and had just betrayed the one who had sacrificed himself for him and all the other seekers across Cybertron. He should have refused to tell and just let Megatron terminate him.

After all, he is a seeker, part of a group of Transformers that are neither true Decepticons nor Autobots. Seekers are often classified as a neutral race; they are neither evil nor heroic and exactly how and why they were created is one of the greatest mysteries of Cybertron. However one thing is certain: seekers are remarkably loyal to one another and when one of their fellow robots is in distress, they are programmed to act swiftly and efficiently.

As for Sunstar himself, he was just there from the very beginning. He was not just a commander like Megatron or Optimus Prime, there is evidence in Cybertronian history that may suggest Sunstar was the very first seeker ever created, but the exact reasons behind his creation and origin are unknown. The most logical conclusion states that "he is just meant to be."

Thundercracker was suddenly jolted into consciousness by an intense surge of pain shooting through his entire body. In his current pitiful state, he has failed to realise that Megatron's attack has managed to break several major fuel passages in his abdomen and this has led to energon flowing freely and uncontrollably throughout his system. As a result, Thundercracker's spark is being deprived of energon; the lifeblood of all Transformers, and it's taking the ultimate toll on him.

Thundercracker's life is gradually slipping away from him, but he has lost the will to fight.

"I don't deserve to live…" he croaked weakly and fell into the realm of unconsciousness once again. But his mind never ceased to rest and even as he lay awaiting death on the platform, he remembered a time long past. His mind drifted back to when he was only a sparkling…

Thundercracker would have been only a little older than Skywarp was the day he arrived at this base. It was a particularly cruel day as the war-ravaged planet was plunged into a long darkness and many Transformers of all races lost their lives in the heat of battle. Among these was Thundercracker's creator. He had just witnessed the seeker who had given him life slain by a ruthless Decepticon soldier and he was utterly powerless to prevent it from happening.

Despite what most people think, throughout the seemingly ageless conflict between the Transformers, it is the Decepticons who have done the most damage to the seeker race than any other type of Transformer.

The only reason why most seekers including Thundercracker himself choose to fight on the Decepticon side is because of one common goal: The Decepticons want to bring energon back to their home world.

After the destruction of his creator, Thundercracker was forced to wander the hostile streets for days. Afterwards, whenever he thought back on these dark days of his youth, he was always amazed at how he managed to survive living on the streets on his own for so long.

But as a sparkling, he was eventually pushed to his limits and one night he finally collapsed by a charred building, battered, starved and on his last legs. Then almost as if by destiny, a magnificent green seeker gracefully flew down and took him off the streets. Thundercracker often realised that if Sunstar hadn't found him that day in the ruined city, he'd never be here today.

Sunstar then raised the blue seeklet as if he were his own, and as time went by and Thundercracker grew the two formed an extraordinary friendship that lasted until the end. Sunstar taught him everything he knows today; about how to handle himself in combat and about what it means to be a seeker warrior.

As a result, Thundercracker swiftly became one of the most reliable and best soldiers under Sunstar's command. Indeed, Thundercracker possessed a number of qualities that would make him the perfect soldier; he was intelligent, fast, resourceful, observant and trustworthy. So it was no surprise that Sunstar decided to make him the second-in-command of the entire seeker army. It was easily the proudest moment in Thundercracker's whole life.

Then this fond memory was snatched form Thundercracker's mind as he travelled forward in time to the night of Sunstar's death. Without warning, the blue seeker felt an intense, burning pain reside inside his spark…and then there was total darkness.


End file.
